With “rivers of blood and tears” still flowing in Ukraine and with the increasing threat of the use of nuclear weapons, Pope Francis begged Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Stop this spiral of violence and death.”
Helping each student shine is a spiritual work of mercy, pope says
Education is a spiritual work of mercy not because it imparts information, but because it helps another find meaning and learn to shine, Pope Francis told members of a Catholic group from Argentina.
Invasion of Ukraine was barbaric, but war is complicated, pope tells Jesuits
Pope Francis said that while he has defined Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “unacceptable, repugnant, senseless aggression, barbaric (and) sacrilegious,” he also said that too many people have taken a simplistic view of the war.
Healing by helping: Welcoming refugees builds community, speakers say
After celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Catholic organizations and movements, Vatican officials and government representatives met at two conferences to explore very practical ways to assist migrants and refugees, integrate them into their new communities and combat negative stereotypes.
Pope meets prelates attending weeklong course for new bishops
Close to 200 bishops at the beginning of their ministries in dioceses and eparchies around the world met Pope Francis Sept. 19 at the end of a week of conferences.
Thank God for opportunity to go to school, pope tells Swiss students
Being able to go to school and study is a gift that not every young person in the world has and is something to thank God for, Pope Francis told a group of Swiss students.
Sharing wealth, creating jobs help rich get into heaven, pope says
Jesus throwing money changers out of the temple and talking about how difficult it is for a rich person to get to heaven make it easy to assume that there is little hope for the salvation of a business owner, Pope Francis said, but that is not true.
Young must hasten to share God’s love, pope says in WYD message
Like Mary, who after the Annunciation went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, young Catholics are called to welcome Jesus into their lives and then to go out and share their joy with others, Pope Francis said.
Pope urges scientists to work for peace, protect the planet
The Catholic Church “embraces and encourages a passion for scientific research as an expression of love for the truth and for knowledge about the world,” Pope Francis told members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Love for Christ leads to sharing faith in word and deed, pope says
The first task of a catechist is to love the Lord and to live the faith in a way that makes others want to live it, too, Pope Francis told more than 1,400 people attending the International Congress on Catechesis.
Pope says residential-school policy was part of ‘genocide’ plan
The planned destruction of the families, languages, cultures and traditions of the Indigenous communities of Canada through the residential school system was “genocide,” Pope Francis said.
Pope brings apology to Arctic Indigenous communities
On a stage designed to evoke a qammaq — a traditional Inuit summer home built of whale ribs, sod and stone — Pope Francis again apologized to the Indigenous communities of Canada for Catholics’ complicity in breaking up their families and suppressing their languages.